# Regency variable geo2\_idx in Indonesia Censuses **URL:** \ **Category:** INTERNATIONAL\ **Created:** [February 19, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/regency-variable-geo2-idx-in-indonesia-censuses/2821 "2019-02-19T20:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![katz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@katz](https://forum.ipums.org/u/katz)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/regency-variable-geo2-idx-in-indonesia-censuses/2821/1 "2019-02-19T20:20:00Z")
The regency variable geo2\_idx appears to no longer be available in data extracts for the Indonesia censuses. The variable that is available appears to be geo2\_id, which appears to be a harmonized variable providing consistent boundaries. This variable, however, does not appear to match in any way geo2\_idx. Is there a way to still obtain geo2\_idx? Or, are there new variables that contain this old information? Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![JeffBloem](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/jeffbloem/32/40_2.png) [@JeffBloem](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JeffBloem)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/regency-variable-geo2-idx-in-indonesia-censuses/2821/2 "2019-02-20T16:20:00Z")
This is a good question. The “GEO2\_IDX” variables represent an old method of harmonizing geography variables. That is, if place names were similar, the units were lined up. No map or geographic boundary was used in the making of these variables. The new GEO2\_ID variables are more accurate in the sense that they have been harmonized by geographical boundaries rather than only by place names. I’ve attached an old html page that we hosted on the IPUMS International website while this transition was in progress. We hope that this change helps improve the accuracy of our data and your research. [IPUMS Geography in T.pdf](https://forum.ipums.org/uploads/short-url/vgnjI9dZXrA2tIzAvFssUTg0byj.pdf) (54 KB) ---
**Author:** ![Natalie\_Bau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Natalie\_Bau](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Natalie_Bau)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/regency-variable-geo2-idx-in-indonesia-censuses/2821/3 "2020-03-18T21:22:45Z")
The Indonesia censuses, including in the non-harmonized variables, do not seem to have the original values for the district and provinces available anymore. This makes it hard to merge the data to other Indonesian data sets from the same periods. Is there a way to get the original district codes from the survey?